SIDE SILL GARNISH

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a side sill garnish.

Background Art

As a side sill garnish, disclosed is a cover plate mounting structure for mounting a cover plate such as a stainless steel plate on a portion of a surface of a trim body that is resin compact (e.g., JP-A-2006-27317). According to JP-A-2006-27317, a position of the cover plate is regulated in all directions, i.e., a lateral direction and a vertical direction, and a mounting hole on the side of the trim body is hidden, thereby enhancing outward appearance. The cover plate is provided on a surface of a side step located on a lower edge of a door-opening.

JP-A-2006-27317 has a problem that since a flange is provided inside of a vehicle cabin, a surface of the trim body is scratched when a passenger gets in or out of the vehicle. That is, when a passenger gets in or out of the vehicle, his/her foot is prone to come into contact with an outside portion of the lower edge of the door opening which is not covered with a cover plate, resulting in damage of the outside portion.

Disclosure of the Invention

Hence, it is an object of the present invention to provide a side sill garnish capable of effectively protecting an upper surface of a side sill and enhancing a decorating function.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a side sill garnish mounted on an upper surface of a side sill in a door opening of a vehicle comprises: a synthetic resin garnish body; and a metal protection plate covering an upper surface of the garnish body, wherein the protection plate covers an outer side end of the garnish body located on an outer side of the vehicle.

According to a second aspect of the invention, the side sill garnish is provided with an illuminating device including a light source and a lens for outwardly irradiating light of the light source, wherein the protection plate has an opening through which the lens is exposed.

According to a third aspect of the invention, the opening is formed by making a character-shape cut.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, a side illuminating device is provided on an outer end located on an outer side of the vehicle.

According to a fifth aspect of the invention, a gap is formed between an outer side end of the protection plate and a surface of the side sill, the gap has such a size that when the protection plate is deformed by a predetermined load, the outer side end of the protection plate does not come into contact with the surface of the side sill.

According to the first aspect of the invention, it is possible to effectively prevent the surface of the side sill from being scratched by a foot of a passenger when s/he gets in or out of the vehicle. Further, since the side sill garnish comprises the metal protection plate and the synthetic resin garnish body, it is possible to give variation to the texture of the upper surface, leading to enhancement of the decorating function.

According to the second aspect of the invention, since light can be irradiated from the opening formed in the protection plate, the decorating function can be further enhanced.

According to the third aspect of the invention, since the opening has a shape obtained by making a character-shape cut, it is possible to improve passenger satisfaction.
The fourth aspect of the invention makes it possible to illuminate the ground on a lateral side of the vehicle when the passenger gets in or out of the vehicle.

The fifth aspect of the invention makes it possible to prevent the outer side end of the protection plate from coming into contact with the upper surface of the side sill even if the protection plate is deformed.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a usage state of a side sill garnish according to an embodiment.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the side sill garnish according to the embodiment.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a side sill garnish according to a modification.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view of the side sill garnish according to the modification.

Detailed Description of the Invention

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. A side sill garnish 1 shown in Fig. 1 is a plate-like body, and is mounted on an upper surface of a side sill 4 in a door opening 3 of a vehicle 2. This embodiment is described based on a case where the side sill garnish 1 is provided at an opening of a driver's seat.

The side sill garnish 1 comprises a garnish body 5 and a protection plate 6. The protection plate 6 covers an upper surface of the garnish body 5 and an outer side end 5A located on an outer side of the vehicle 2. With this configuration, the side sill garnish 1 can prevent a surface of the side sill 4 from being scratched by a foot of a passenger when s/he gets in or out of the vehicle.
As shown in Fig. 2, the side sill 4 includes a side sill inner 10 and a side sill outer 11, which are integrally bonded to each other at their upper end edges l0A and 11A and their lower end edges (not shown). The side sill garnish 1 is mounted on an upper surface IIB of the side sill outer 11 with a bonding member 12 interposed therebetween. A double-faced tape, for example, is suitably used as the bonding member 12.

In the case of this embodiment, the garnish body 5 is made of synthetic resin and is formed so as to cover the upper surface IIB of the side sill outer 11. The garnish body 5 has a disposition recess 13 and an inserting portion 14 formed in the disposition recess 13. The disposition recess 13 has such a shape that an upper surface 5B of the garnish body 5 is dented toward the other surface, and is formed from substantially a central portion in the widthwise direction to the outer side end 5A. The disposition recess 13 is formed such that when the protection plate 6 is disposed, an upper surface 6 A of the protection plate 6 and the upper surface 5B of the garnish body 5 are substantially flush with each other. The inserting portion 14 is a hole formed to penetrate the garnish body 5 in its thickness direction. The outer side end 5 A of the garnish body 5 gently inclines downward as its upper surface approaches outward.

The protection plate 6 is made of metal such as aluminum or stainless steel, and is fixed to the disposition recess 13 of the garnish body 5 by means of the bonding member 12. An opening 15 is formed to penetrate the protection plate 6 in its thickness direction.

The opening 15 is formed at a position corresponding to the inserting portion 14. The opening 15 has a predetermined shape, e.g., a shape obtained by making a character-shape cut such as a name of the vehicle 2. The inserting portion 14 is formed larger than the opening 15 so that a frame-like pasting portion 16 can be formed around the opening 15.
A gap t is formed between an outer side end 6B of the protection plate 6 and the upper surface IIB of the side sill outer 11. The gap t has such a size that even when the protection plate 6 is deformed by a predetermined load, the outer side end 5A of the protection plate 6 does not come into contact with the upper surface 1 IB of the side sill outer 11. Here, the predetermined load is an assumed load applied to the side sill garnish 1 by a foot of a passenger when s/he gets in or out of the vehicle, and this load includes a safety factor.

A side illuminating device 20 which irradiates light outward from the gap t is provided on an outer end of the side sill garnish 1. Various devices can be used as the side illuminating device 20: for example, the side illuminating device 20 may include a rod-like light guide body disposed in a longitudinal direction of the side sill garnish 1 with respect to the gap t, and a light source provided on one end of the rod-like light guide body, and the side illuminating device 20 can guide, in the longitudinal direction, light emitted from the light source (not shown). Although not shown, the light source is electrically connected to a battery installed in the vehicle 2.

An illuminating device 21 is fixed, by means of the bonding member 12, to a back surface of the side sill garnish 1 configured as described above. The illuminating device 21 includes a light source (not shown), a case 22, a light guide body 23 and a lens 24. The illuminating device 21 can outwardly irradiate, from the lens 24, light emitted from the light source through the light guide body 23. The illuminating device 21 is inserted into the inserting portion 14 of the garnish body 5, and the lens 24 is exposed from the opening 15. In this state, the illuminating device 21 is fixed to the protection plate 6 by the bonding member 12 in the pasting portion 16 formed on the back surface of the protection plate 6. Although not shown, the light source is electrically connected to the battery installed in the vehicle 2.

Since the side sill garnish 1 having the above-described configuration is provided on the upper surface IIB of the side sill outer 11, it is possible to effectively prevent the surface of the side sill 4 from being scratched by a foot of a passenger when s/he gets in or out of the vehicle.

The side sill garnish 1 comprises the metal protection plate 6 and the synthetic resin garnish body 5. Therefore, variation can be given to the texture of the upper surface, resulting in enhancement of the decorating function.

Since the side sill garnish 1 of the embodiment is configured such that the metal protection plate 6 covers the surface of the synthetic resin garnish body 5, it is possible to reliably prevent the surface of the garnish body 5 from being scratched.

According to the side sill garnish 1, the metal protection plate 6 covers the outer side end 5 A of the garnish body 5. This makes it possible to prevent breakage of the outer side end 5 A that may be caused, for example, when a foot of a passenger hits it

The outer side end 1A of the side sill garnish 1 gently inclines downward as its upper surface approaches outward. Therefore, a passenger can smoothly get in or out of the vehicle.

The gap t is formed between the outer side end 6B of the protection plate 6 and the upper surface 1 IB of the side sill outer 11. This configuration makes it possible to, even when the protection plate 6 is deformed, prevent the outer side end 6B of the protection plate 6 from coming into contact with the upper surface 1 IB of the side sill outer 11,

The side sill garnish 1 is provided with the side illuminating device 20 which irradiates light outward from the gap t. Therefore, when a passenger gets in or out of the vehicle, the ground on a lateral side of the vehicle can be illuminated.

The side sill garnish 1 comprises the illuminating device 21, and light can be irradiated from the opening 15 formed in the protection plate 6, leading to enhancement of the decorating function. In addition, the opening 15 has a shape obtained by making a character-shape cut, enabling to improve passenger satisfaction.

A side sill garnish 30 shown in Figs. 3 and 4 is a modification of the present invention and is different from the side sill garnish 1 in that a protection plate 31 can cover an entire upper surface and an entire outer peripheral edge of the garnish body 5.

This side sill garnish 30 achieves the same effect as that of the embodiment.

In the side sill garnish 30 according to the modification, the entire upper surface and the entire outer peripheral edge of the garnish body 5 are covered with the protection plate 6, and it is therefore possible to more reliably prevent the side sill garnish from being scratched or damaged.

The side sill garnish 30 of the modification is configured such that the upper surface is covered with the metal protection plate 6. This configuration gives more inorganic texture, resulting in enhancement of the decorating function.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiment, and the invention can appropriately be modified within a range of the subject matter of the invention. For example, although the side sill garnish 1 (30) is provided on the upper surface of the side sill 4 of the opening 15 on the side of the driver's seat, the invention is not limited to this. The side sill garnish may be mounted on the side sill 4 of the opening 15 on the side of a front passenger seat or a rear passenger seat.

CLAIMS

1. A side sill garnish mounted on an upper surface of a side sill in a door opening of a vehicle, comprising:

a synthetic resin garnish body; and

a metal protection plate covering an upper surface of the garnish body,

wherein the protection plate covers an outer side end of the garnish body located on an outer side of the vehicle.

2. The side sill garnish according to claim 1, further comprising an illuminating device including a light source and a lens for outwardly irradiating light of the light source, wherein

the protection plate has an opening through which the lens is exposed.

3. The side sill garnish according to claim 2, wherein the opening is formed by making a character-shape cut.

4. The side sill garnish according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a side illuminating device is provided on an outer end located on an outer side of the vehicle.

5. The side sill garnish according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a gap is formed between an outer side end of the protection plate and a surface of the side sill, the gap having such a size that when the protection plate is deformed by a predetermined load, the outer side end of the protection plate does not come into contact with the surface of the side sill.